Talk about the perfect tuneup for this Friday and Saturday’s Mid-Continent Conference Championship in DeKalb.

The NIU men’s tennis team chalked up an 8-1 triumph over Illinois-Chicago Friday at NIU’s West Campus Courts and then moved back indoors Saturday to capture a dramatic 5-3 win over Western Illinois in the showdown match between Mid-Continent Conference leaders.

Rain resulted in the cancellation of a match with Wisconsin-Green Bay, but the Huskies still managed to pick up their 10th and 11th consecutive Mid-Con victories.

The win over Western was pivotal for seeding purposes as the Leathernecks lost their first league match and only the second of the year to stand 6-1, 19-2. NIU improved to 3-0 in the loop and 10-14 overall.

Marty Engel started the Huskies with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles against the Leathernecks. WIU claimed the Nos. 2 and 4 singles matches, but Dustin Dobrin and Andy Schoeberlein teamed up for a victory at No. 3 doubles to knot the score.

Dobrin and David Edelman scored singles victories to give NIU a 4-3 advantage and the duo of Steve Senter and Matt Green iced the cake with a two-set triumph.

“We bent, but we did not break,” NIU coach Chuck Merzbacher said. “I liked the way Steve and Matt came back from tough singles losses to win their doubles match and clinch the team win for us.”